County’s deputy pay slightly lower than counterparts’

In the recent forum for Grant County sheriff, the candidates revisited the issue of deputy pay, saying the department used to be one of the better paid ones but now can’t retain deputies because of the low pay.

A look at other sheriff’s departments, both near and far, shows that Grant County’s pay is slightly lower than other nearby, similar markets’ and nationally.

Uncertified deputies

Entry-level salary for an uncertified deputy at the Grant County Sheriff’s Office — one who can work for one year and must get certified through one of the law enforcement academies — starts at $31,145, or $14.97 an hour. In Hidalgo County, uncertified deputies start out at about the same, at $15 an hour, according to information provided by Hidalgo County in May. In Luna County, uncertified deputies start out much lower, at $25,582, according to information provided by Luna County, also in May.

The Silver City police start their cadets out slightly higher— $32,741 or $15.74 as an uncertified officer, which is the most current rate, the city confirmed earlier this week.

Certified deputies

Entry-level salary for a certified Grant County sheriff’s deputy — one who has already been through the police academy — is $34,379, or $16.53 an hour. But most deputies are making more than that, with most making $17.28 an hour, or $35,942 — or more. Those are deputies with no rank such as corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, detective, or those in the Civil Division, all of whom make much more — between $18.87 and $22.11 per hour, except for the undersheriff, who is the highest-paid hired staff on the department at $26.22 an hour, next to the sheriff, who is an elected official whose salary is set by state statute and this year is $65,270.

Additionally, deputies are given longevity pay, with 18 deputies earning an extra 58 cents an hour, five earning an extra 87 cents an hour and one earning an extra 06 cents an hour, according to documents provided by the county in May 2017. That all raises their base salaries, with most deputies earning a salary of between $35,932 and $40,447, without overtime. The employees also received a 1.5 percent cost-of-living raise in July of this year.

Silver City police officers, once certified, start out slightly higher, at $36,302, or $17.45 an hour.

Hidalgo County deputies certified are paid slightly more than that to start, at $17.50 an hour, or $36,400, with the highest-paid deputy earning $39,233.

In Luna County, deputies’ salaries are much lower, coming in at $31,145, or $14.97, to start.

None of the departments requires a college degree for their law enforcement positions, just a high school diploma and training at the law enforcement academy.

A look at deputies’ salaries nationwide shows that Grant County falls into the lower end of the range.

According to the website www.lawenforcementedu.net, base salaries for sheriff’s patrol officers and deputies generally range between $34,000 and $64,000, with an hourly median wage of $20.84 an hour, or $43,347.

Payscale.com shows roughly about the same, with a median salary of $43,351, or $20.39 an hour, with a range of $30,164 to $73,146.

Indeed.com listed an average salary of $43,695 based on salary estimates from 15 employees, users, and past and present job advertisements over the past 36 months, most recently updated in October. The site listed deputy jobs in Eddy, Curry, and San Juan counties, all at higher salaries — from $19.31 an hour to $23.46 an hour. However, all of those counties are in oil and gas country and each has a much larger valuation than Grant County, which is how the county brings in revenue to pay salaries — through property taxes.

One of the issues the two candidates for Grant County sheriff brought up was that some deputies who have several years of experience are being paid the same as other, newer deputies and that hurts morale. A step plan would change that by allowing the county to step up those deputies’ pay with more experience.